New Square Bistro, owned by chef of Willoughby restaurant, could set the stage for Chardon Square renaissance

Square Bistro owner/chef Jaret Havanchak stands at the bar of his new Chardon restaurant with his pork osso bucco, made with pork raised by New Creation Farm in Chardon Township. It’s served in a natural pan reduction sauce with brown basmati rice and bacon braised Brussels sprouts.

Jaret Havanchak believes his new Square Bistro can be the catalyst for spurring Chardon Square into a dining-gallery-shopping destination such as Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood has become.

His place has been packed since it quietly opened on the square a few weeks ago, first with curious regulars of his Lure Bistro in Willoughby stopping in. Soon locals joined the mix and have now come to dominate. At lunchtime, those locals include county courthouse employees eager to try the dishes of Berkshire pork and beef from shaggy Scottish Highland cattle, all raised at New Creation Farm in nearby Chardon Township. (Read more about those cattle.)

Local sourcing is central to Havanchak’s menu of new American cuisine. When the Chardon Farmers Market opens on the square in a few weeks, he’ll shop there for his menu.

But his popular Lure Bistro isn’t going away.

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“I’ve had a core group at Lure for years and hired Jordan Walsh as a chef for Willoughby so I can go back and forth,” Havanchak said.

Havanchak, who moved his restaurant into the space formerly occupied by Chardon BrewWorks, which moved down the street, was attracted to Chardon because of its historic beauty and the new liquor licenses made available through a recent revitalization act.

“It’s hard to make a decent living from a restaurant without a liquor license,” he said.

Square Bistro has a full bar with 12 craft beers on tap, including five from Ohio, and a comprehensive wine list. A nearby pizza shop, a Chinese restaurant and a coffee shop also applied for and received the new liquor licenses, he said.

“We completely gutted this beautiful old building and redid everything from top to bottom,” he said.

The restaurant seats 36 in its main dining room, 14 at the bar and about 20 in the loft, which will be available for meetings and private parties. When the weather finally warms up, he’ll open a small patio on the sidewalk that will seat about 12.

Early on, Havanchak befriended Scott Boehnlein, who runs the 65-acre New Creation Farm on Clark Road with his wife and seven children, most of whom were at first fostered and then were adopted by the couple. Their animals are hardy heritage breeds that are free-ranging, raised without antibiotics and on feed that is pesticide-free. That makes the meat extraordinarily tasty and good for those who have a sensitivity to meat raised with antibiotics. Others among the area’s top chefs, such as Michael Symon, Randal Johnson, Douglas Katz and Karen Small also source their meats from New Creation Farm.

“I loved their meat from the beginning, and also I love the fact that he’s a real family man,” said Havanchak.

The chef has moved his own family to Chardon, a tight-knit community he believes exhibits many of the same family values that have become important to him.

“Chardon was my wife, Rebekah’s, hometown, and I’ve come to really appreciate it as a place to live now that I have my own family,” Havanchak said.

The couple has three children, a 6-year-old and twins, 4.

“Now that we’re so close, Rebekah can bring the kids here and help out at the restaurant,” he said.

His children are very comfortable in a professional kitchen and have an appreciation for all kinds of food, he said.

“They all love sushi, and they even eat raw oysters,” he said.

Sushi is one of the specialties at his Lure Bistro, which has become known for its fresh fish.

His talent with fish is reflected at Square Bistro with entrees that include Pretzel Trout and Maple Pecan Salmon and a Thai Curry Mussels appetizer priced at $9.

Prices, in fact, are arguably quite reasonable considering artful preparations that included smoked Gouda mashed potatoes, a duck pot pie at $18, a pork osso bucco at $17, sandwiches with rosemary-infused fries around $10 and plenty of soups and salads from $4 to $6.

He’s working with officials to try to get his liquor license expanded to Sundays, he said.

“It would be nice to be open for lunch on Sunday,” he said. “I think Chardon is the kind of town that would support that.”